by Seb Murray, Business Because
Udacity’s announcement marks the latest innovation among Mooc makers, which are increasingly moving beyond free courses with high drop-out rates and into paid-for, professional education. Udacity’s “Nanodegrees” are monetized. Coursera, a rival, runs “Specializations”, and charges users for certificates, and enrolment, to some courses. Online students are uploading certificates of competition to job sites like LinkedIn. And employers, such as Google, Amazon, and Adobe, are hiring them. “As more online degree recipients enter the workplace, and employers learn that many can perform as well as those with traditional degrees, the momentum to be more accepting of such programs grows,” said Patrick Mullane, executive director of HBX, Harvard Business School’s digital learning initiative. Educational leaders believe online learning is one way to close critical skills gaps, in areas such as data science and web development.
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